Variety (January 19, 1955)

Wednesday, January 19, 1955 TELEVISION REVIEWS 37 horizons unlimited (\ith Dr. w. F. O. Swann, Fred Ulmer producer: Dick Stroma Director: Lew Klein Writer: Dick Stroma SO Mins., Sun. S pm. lVFIL-TV, Philadelphia The Museum Council of Phila- delphia and WFIL-TV have col- laborated on the worthy aim of making viewers conscious of some of the cultural centers available in this area. Skedded for the 8 pm Sunday slot against “Toast” and “Comedy,” new program seems to be aimed for an audience al- ready won. Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Art Mu- seum, the Pennsylvania Historical Society and the U. of Pennsylvania Museum along with a dozen others present their top men on such sub- jects as antibiotics, heredity, genet- ics. cosmic rays, the weather, bird migrations and similar highly spe- cialized matters. Projecting a wise, amiable and alert personal- ity, Dr. W. F. G. Swann (head of Franklin Institute’s Bartol Founda- tion) is a casting director’s dream of a scientist. He establishes the feeling of a “presence.” Guest on show caught was Fred Ulmer, of the Philly Zoo. explor- ing hibernation more thoroughly than could be expected in the brief session. An ice cube was used for an intro and finale worked back to that theme, explaining the use of freezing in heart surgery with films taken at the University Hos- pital. Visual interest was sustained throughout with live animals trans- ported from Zoo to studio, viz. woodchucks, badger, raccoon, skunk, hamster, snakes, frogs and turtles. Bears and bats were on film. A special amplified stethescope was flown in from Minneapolis to record heartbeats of animals and distinguish true from false hiber- nation. Ulmer explained difficul- ties of the artificially induced state and then opened refrigerator to show, as he suspected, how ex periment had failed with wood- chucks. There is no playing down to audience, but an annoying tend- ency to put Dr. Swann in the role of a straightman. With “Horizons Unlimited.” WFIL-TV has taken another major step in the depart- ment of educational television. Gagh. LAFFIN’ THEATRE With Rufe Davis Producer: Dan Schuffman Director: Jim Holmes Sustaining 30 Mins.; Mon.-thru-Frl., 5 p.m. WBKB, Chicago Funnyman Rufe Davis is making his Chi tv debut with this moppet- beamed strip. Zany character should make a splash in the pop- side set with his facial gymnastics, vocal highjinks and general comedic department. Only ques- tion is how much of this sort of thing the local traffic can bear, with “Cousin Rufe” joining a flock of other “relatives” of the kid dialers. It’s the familiar formula with Davis working the opening and close of the half-hour, while the body of the show is from celluloid. This time it’s’ vintage comedy shorts tagged the “Little Rascals.” They're about par for the course. Davis fills the live portions with some sketch sheet doodlings, reads his mail from the tiny fans, imi- tates train whistles and makes with a lot of country bumpkin palaver. On the show caught (12) he gave a somewhat confused pitch for the March of Dimes that wasn’t likely to help the tot’s understanding of polio. Dave. CONSERVATION ROAD lVith Robert Burney Producer: Angela McDermott 30 Mins.; Thurs., 9:30 a.m. Sustaining W RGV-TV, Schenectady This is the second year that Robert Burney, a principal in the Schenectady public school system, has traveled down “Conservation Road, " alone or with others, for 'he primary benefit of classroom viewers. He is also in the second 13-week series of the present school year, answering the basic questions as to the nature of and activity in conservation, and the individual’s contribution to it. v\ind. water, land, animals, bugs, birds and fish are among the facets covered. The last, and solid seg- ment seen dealt with “Woodcraft >> lsdom.” A tall man, with a pleasantly projectile personality and a ehat- ‘■‘.v intimate technique, Burney e lse *y ust? d a seventh-grade Boy pcout pupil for a demonstration of the latter’s procedure in fashion- Jog a paraffine-covered, string- tored paper to “fire” wet wood. J he segment came off so well— men to camera pickup—that other- I'aiticipant dates seemed to be in- meated as desirable. Jaco. PANTOMIME QUIZ With Mike Stokey, Peter Donald, Denise Darcel, Dorothy Hart, John Carradine, Jerry Lester, Hans Conreld, Elaine Stritch, Vincent Price; Art Fleming, announcer Producer: Stokey Director: Eddie Nugent 30 Mins.; Sun., 9:30 p.m. REVLON ABC-TV, from New York ( SSC&B , Weintraub) ABC-TV has latched on to a standout property in “Pantomime Quiz’s” shift from CBS-TV. It’s a lively divertissement for a Sunday evening. The panto stuff is ex- cellently suited to the visual me- dium and the show should win lots of dialers for the web. Much of the show’s interest de- pends on the calibre of the guest charaders. On show caught Sun- day (16), stanza had a topflight marquee. Peter Donald, Denise DarceL Dorothy Hart and John Carraaine were pitted against Jerry Lester, Hans Conreid, Vin- cent Price and Elaine Stritch. Both teams got into the spirit of the game quickly and projected an enthusiasm that glued the viewer to the screen. Mike Stokey, who’s been with the series for years, continues as TV READER’S DIGEST (Last of the Shooting Sheriffs) With Hugh Reilly, host; Russ Simpson, Jim Hamilton, Bill Henry, Francis MacDonald, Jimmy Hawkins, Bill Fawcett, Dick Reeves, Bobby Taylor, Tommy Kirk, others Producer: Chester Erskine Director: William Beaudine Writer: Frank Gruber 30 Mins., Mon., 8 p.m. STUDEBAKER-PACKARD CORP. ABC-TV, from N.Y. (film) (Ruthrauff & Ryan) Chester Erskine appears to have successfully translated that human interest element that’s made the Reader’s Digest a literary phenom into television terms. First in the series, “Last of the Shooting Sheriffs,” based on a Cleveland Amory article, retained the full flavor of the Digest’s best pieces, and was a honey of a television script besides. If Erskine can keep it up, he’ll have an anthology series in the true sense of the word. Not that there aren’t problems, though. "TV Reader’s Digest” is slotted in a time period that’s been a traditionally tough one for ABC- TV, with this season’s competition even rougher because of the full- hour exposure of Sid Caesar on NBC and the veteran “Burns & emcee-host. He’s an amiable fel- j Allen” j on CBS. If Studebaker- low and knows how to keep the players, especially the hams, in tow without becoming offensive. Charades run the gamut from Shakespeare quotes to “gag say- ings.” Each one is built into a funfest. The Revlon pitches give the players and the viewers a chance to catch their breath. Gros. PARADE Producers: Mario Prizek, Daryl Duke 60 Mins.; Tues., 8 p.m. CBC-TV network, from Vancouver This stanza of an every-four- weeks Canadian Broadcasting Corp. west-coast show, seen for the first time across Canada, turned out to be a tossed tropical salad. Tossed by people with re- laxed but generally sure aim, un- pretentious ideas, talent and taste. Aside from a frequently murky kinescope, some of the lighting was poor, so was one song rendi- tion, and some of the bridging was rough. There was only one ab- solutely standout performer—a Negro girl named Elinor Collins, especially attractive in well-han- dled closeups, who sang "The Blues Ain’t Nothin’ You Can Find” with vigor, skill and feeling. She also did “Blue Atlantic Blues” in semi-shout style to good effect. But the general level was pleas- antly entertaining, the pace easy, as befitted a studio show purport- ing to take the viewer to the Car- ibbean, Mexico and New Orleans. The overall effect was a treat to anyone a bit fed up with the ex- cessive slickness and sameness of so many big musicals. And there were no commercials. Bill Bellman, onetime Ottawa radio announcer, emceed in pleas- ant style, and no one else did any- thing in the hour but sing, dance and look genuinely happy. Bell- man’s latter-half spots were too frequent, too loag and mostly un- inspired writing, but previously just about right. A dozen or so performers car- ried the whole show, but so much imagination was evident in all de- partments—even occasionally in lighting—that there was no drag- ging except, as noted, in the later gab spots. Dances, choreographed and directed by Beth Lockhart, were gay and colorful and non- routine. Co-producers Mario Priz- ek and Daryl Duke (they also wrote the continuity) deserve a bouquet for using their low budget so in- telligently and entertainingly. Card. Packard is willing to undergo some tough sledding for awhile on the rating charts, there seems no reason why it shouldn’t emerge with a winner as the show builds. Preem segment was a yarn about a small Arizona town which in 1927 hires Jim Roberts, the last of the oldtime western law heroes, because of bank robbers in the neighborhood. Roberts turns out to be an old, phlegmatic gent, to the chagrin of the excited town, which has been talking about nothing but his exploits for days. He’s not fast on the draw—in fact, doesn’t carry a gun; he aims and shoots slowly, with both hands. He arrests a trou- blemaker after the trouble, when the guy is dead drunk. In a word, he’s a terrible disappointment, and he’s fired. Just as he’s about to leave, the bank robbers show up, and the sheriff foils the holdup with a couple of bullseyes, two- hand style. He’s again a hero and his legendary status is restored. Russ Simpson played the old- timer with distinction, lending just the right phlegmaticism and stoi- cism to the role and offsetting the serious enthusiasm of the rest of the townspeople. Jimmy Hawkins as a hero-worshipping youngster. John Hamilton as the mayor and Bill Henry as the boy-grown-into- a-director, who tells the story in flashback, head an excellent cast. Frank Gruber’s teleplay had humor and pace, and William Beaudine’s direction maintained the flavor of the story to a maximum. Hugh Reilly’s hosting lay largely in the field of spiels for the Packard and Studebaker, but was nicely han- dled. Chan. FALSTAFF REPORTER With Pat Herndon Producer: Pat Herndon Director: Forrester Mashbir 15 Mins.; M-F, 10:30 p.m. FALSTAFF BEER KPIX, San Francisco A new face to the local tv screen as a newscaster, Pat Herndon turns out a strong news show. CBS film clips are utilized, interspersed with still pix of personalities. On show caught, Herndon kept the audience attention and pro- vided a better view than the usual sitting-at-the-desk type of news- cast by getting up and moving around occasionally to point out places on maps and a world globe. The Falstaff commercial jingle roared in over Herndon’s voice on one occasion, but that’s only an occasional fluff. When the show settles down, Herndon could easily emerge as one of the top Bay Area tv person- alities. He has sureness, ease and charm and. though mostly known for sports here, handles a general news show of this sort deftly. Rafe. MAGIC GATEWAY With Ed Kallay, Bob Reid, Cliff Shaw Producer-director: Bob Franks 30 Mins., Sat. 5:30 p.m. GATEWAY SUPER MARKETS WAVE-TV, Louisville (Mitchall-WerBell) Here’s a newcomer to local tv programming which might hold some interest for very young view- ers, for whom it is obviously in- tended, but it’s hardly likely that anyone outside of the very juve age brackets would give it a sec- ond gander. It’s nothing more than a disconnected monolog by Ed Kalley, station sports and commer- cial spieler, who carries on a point- less conversation with stuffed doll characters representing some of the participating sponsors’ frozen products. Teddy Snowcrop, Tut- wiler, a turtle, and the like. Audi- ble responses from the doll props is apparently done with the old gimmick of a speeded up tape re- cording. Timing of this phase was poorly handled by the operator. Thrown in between commercials at intervals were clips from an old Bobby Vernon comedy film. Kal- lay narrated this, with frequent guffaws, chortles and snorts, all plenty loud and boisterous and reading of subtitles. Teed off the film with a bit of business with a prop film camera. Only redeeming item on this opus was the “mystery tune” sung by Bob Reid, which on show caught was “Always.” First 100 correct answers with any sponsor's label, boxtop, etc, receives a doll or toy sports car. Reid has an ex- cellent baritone voice and knows his way with a song. He’s wasted on this show, however, and rates a better showcase. Setting used for opening and close of the show, with a garden gate effect, was akay. Bob Franks’ directing job must have been easy, as Kallay corned up the ad libs. His commercial pitches, however, were crisp and cleanly punched. Wied. I POND’S THEATRE (The Hickory Limb) With Gene Raymond, Mildred Dun- nock, Mary Astor, Phyllis Love, Neva Patterson, PhMlip Coolidge, others Producer-director: Paul Lammers Writer: Meade Roberts 60 Mins.; Thurs., 9:30 p.m. POND’S EXTRACT CO. ABC-TV, from New York (J. Walter Thompson) The rescue operation performed a few weeks back by J. Walter Thompson when Kraft decided to cancel its Thursday night drama- tics on ABC-TV and JWT brought in Pond’s to take over the show lock-stock-and-barrel was a worth- while one from the standpoint of healthy television as well as the economics involved. Since "Pond’s Theatre” is to be produced by the same JWT staff, it’s safe to say that it will continue to resemble the old Kraft segment, and that’s all for the good. For while the Kraft shows rarely rose to memor- able heights, they proved a con- sistent showcase for good dramatic writing, acting and production, and the Thursday night stanzas, for all their rating difficulties, would have been missed. That Pond’s will continue in the same tradition, perhaps improve upon the Kraft show’, was indi- cated in the premiere play, an adaptation by Meade Roberts of John Van Druten’s "The Hickory Limb.” Pond’s commemorated the preem by gracing the play with an above-average cast, not only in marquee value but in acting abil- ity. Gene Raymond as a carelessly lovable novelist. Mary Astor as his divorced wife, Mildred Dunnock as a dominating mother-in-law and Phyllis Love as their imaginative daughter. For added measure, though the reason is difficult to figure, Neva Patterson was on in a quickie scene as a glamorous actress. Play was a thoughtful and per- ceptive character study of the hus- band, wife and mother, with Miss Astor protraying a weak and un- certain middle-aged woman who remains completely under her mother’s thumb. Miss Dunnock, as the mother, played a prim and straitlaced domineer, while young Miss Love, as the rebellious daughter (rebellious in the sense that she wants to see her father after 10 years) starts the plot in motion by getting together with Raymond, a sort of lovable but devil-may-care character. She comes to disappointment after a whirlwind gettogether as Pop wanders off to Mexico, but the lightweight plot is enough to carry the characterizations which are the heart of the play. Credit the four- some with extremely sensitive per- formances. and Roberts with a per- ceptive adaptation. Paul Lammers. one of the three rotating produc- ers-directors (others are Fred Car- ney and George Roy Hill) got the series off to a standout start via deft direction and the usual quota of top production values. Chan. HERBIE KOCH SHOW With Robert Fischer, Mary Mitchell Raper, Bill Brittain Producer-Director: John Farley 30 Mins., Sun. 10 p.m. Participating WHAS-TV, Louisville One of the town’s long-estab- lished radio and tv musicians, Herbie Koch, who presides at the station’s multi-manualled organ, offers viewers a blend of standard and classical musical selections, both vocal and instrumental, which has been high in favor over a con- siderable period of time. Koch is a vet of presentation house days, when his organ specialties took him over the country, as well as a tour of England’s deluxe film houses. Show opened with baritone Bob Fischer in a rousing tonsilling of “No Business Like Show Business.” Singer has appeared for several seasons with summer operettas at Iroquois Amphitheatre and local opera performances and regis- tered. His number was followed by Koch’s flashy keyboarding of “Bullfighter.” Closeups and various camera angles brought into focus his digital dexterity and footwork on the pedals. Guest pianist, Mary Mitchell Raper, concert performer, dis- played her artistry with “White Donkey,” later duetting with Koch to. present an excellent rendition of Saint Saen’s “G Minor Con- certo” for piano and organ. Fave tune from “Annie Get Your Gun” had Fischer giving out with “They Say It’s Wonderful,” plenty okay, as was his “I Got Plenty Of Nuth- in’.” Koch’s playing of the Percy Faith arrangement of “Swedish Rhapsody,” was likewise top organ work. John Farley, director, had sharp assists from Allen Blankenbaker, set designer; Bd Turner, assistant director; Lou Cobb and Hugh Ilor- NAUGHTY MARIETTA With Patrice Munsel, Alfred Drake, John Conte, Gale Sherwood, Bambl Linn, Rod Alexander, Don Driver, Robert Gallagher, Wil- liam LeMessena, singers, dan- cers, etc. Producer-Director: Max Liebman Adaptation: William Friedberg, Fred Saidy, Neal Simon, Will Glickman, William Jacobson Musical Director: Charles Sanford 90 Mins., Sat., 9 p.m. OLDSMORILE NBC-TV, from New York (color) (D. P. Brother) Max Liebman can take a deep bow for this one. Victor Herbert would have been mightly proud of his accomplishment, for the “Naughty Marietta” which went into last Saturday night’s (15) Olds- mobile-sponsored 90-minute NBC- TV slot in compatible tint was as spirited, gay, melodic and eye- arresting a spectacle as one could hope for. Liebman and associates gave it the most painstaking care and devotion and the result was a handsome, completely beguiling reincarnation of what, under nor- mal circumstances, might have emerged as a creaky operetta. That makes it two in a row out of the Herbert catalog, with “Marietta” following last month’s Christmas season presentation of “Babes In Toyland.” One can only repeat “get going, boys, and step up that color set production” after witnessing the beauty and splendor of the multi- hued spectacle. As rewarding as “Marietta” was in black and white (and this can be chalked up as one of the best to date), its trans- formation to the rainbow spectrum could only inspire an earnest hope that millions, instead of the pres- ent few thousand, might soon have access to the added dimension. Its nearly half a century (45 years to be exact) since Herbert’s operetta first tread the Broadway boards, but Saturday night’s vid- tint production gave it a spark and a verve that belied its 1910 vintage. In practically every facet (acting, singing, dancing, camera work, choreography, sets, the cos- tuming and the musical direction). “Marietta” enjoyed an updated tempo and vivacity designed to strike a universal appeal. The casting was topflight, with Metop star Patrice Munsel, Alfred Drake and John Conte in particu- lar coming off exceptionally well as they fell into the spirit of the early New Orleans-backgrounded frolic of love and intrigue as Gov- ernor Le Grange (Conte) plays the double-dealing piracy game while he takes N. O. for a Louisiana hayride. Yet perhaps equally as rewarding was the work of the others—the ensemble of singers and dancers. Bambi Linn and Rod Alexander, Gale Sherwood as the “other woman” who in turn is be- trayed and then betrays, etc. All captured the mood and the spirit with exacting fidelity. It was refreshing to hear the Herbert classics and standards within the polished framework of the production—“Sweet Mystery of Life” as dueted by Miss Munsel and Drake; or again the same coupling in “Falling In Love With Someone,” or Miss Munsel’s rous- ing rendition of the “Italian Street Song” as she plays gypsy. One could single out for special men- tion the finely executed produc- tion turn built around “Love of New Orleans” by Miss Sherwood, Drake and ensemble; Miss Sher- wood’s rendition of “Neath The Southern Moon”; the ingenious- ness of a puppet ballet as executed by Miss Linn and Alexander, the extravagant beauty (particularly in color) of the closing ballroom scene with the nicely turned waltz production, or the excellent musi- cal support by Charles Sanford and musicians in this and other numbers. Paul du Pont’s costum- ing also merits special attention. Miss Munsel was a treat to the eye and registered in fine voice, as fetching a “Marietta” on tv as she’s been on the stage. Drake was in top form, his “U. S. caval- ry to the rescue” dash, histrionics and vocalistics always hitting the right note. Conte was fine as two- timing Guv and his duel scene with Drake was played like they meant it. All in all, a real Satur- day night treat. Rose. rell, floor directors, and Bill White, who was credited with the titles. Fischer was substituting for regu- lar baritone vocalist Bill Pickett, who has been off the show for a couple weeks due to illness. Bill Brittain handled the announcing chores in okay style. This is one of the better live shows in the area, and impresh of this viewing would indicate that it packs excellent musical entertain- ment for musical lovers of all tastes. * Wied.